JACKSONVILLE, Fla. and IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Espero BioPharma, Inc., (“Espero”, or “the Company”), a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of late-stage drugs to treat forms of cardiovascular disease, today announced the appointment of Lee Golden, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer. In his role as a member of the executive leadership team, Dr. Golden will direct the clinical trials for tecarfarin and budiodarone and manage the Company’s interface and communications with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as the regulatory process for each drug candidate advances toward approval.
“With over 20 years of industry expertise, and leadership with other biopharmaceutical companies, Dr. Golden will be an invaluable addition to the company,” said Quang Pham, Chairman and Chief Executive of Espero BioPharma. “His experience in advancing block-buster cardiovascular therapies, including Lipitor, Inspra and Revatio, through the clinic and to the market will play a critical role in our strategy for building a pipeline of products with both clinical and commercial value. We are pleased to welcome him to the Espero BioPharma management team.”
Dr. Golden most recently served as Chief Medical Officer of Gemphire Therapeutics, a publicly traded clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of dyslipidemia and NAFLD/NASH (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis). Previously he served in multiple senior leadership roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Actelion Pharmaceuticals U.S., Inc. Dr. Golden managed multiple development programs, including atopaxar, as Global Therapeutic Head for Cardiovascular and Hematology at Eisai Inc. At Pfizer he was a Medical Director responsible for overseeing multinational cardiovascular trials for Lipitor, and was the U.S. Medical Team Leader for the New Drug Application filings and launch planning for Inspra and Revatio. Dr. Golden is a graduate of New York University School of Medicine, and is formally trained as an Interventional Cardiologist.
About Espero BioPharma, Inc.
Espero BioPharma is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of late-stage drugs to treat forms of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. The company is developing tecarfarin for use in patients requiring chronic anticoagulation, and budiodarone, for the treatment of refractory atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), or Afib. Tecarfarin and budiodarone were designed using a retrometabolic drug design process which enables them to target a different metabolic pathway than the pathway targeted by the most commonly prescribed anticoagulants and drugs for the treatment of refractory AFib, respectively, in order to potentially eliminate specific side effects while maintaining or improving effectiveness.
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